Little House Needleworks Round Robin

At the beginning of this year I started stitching on a round robin with some other ladies in the Needles N Crafts group.  All of the blocks are stitching related (i.e. Needlework School, Needlework Shoppe, etc.), and are Little House Needleworks designs.

Last night I finished stitching up Curly Q Ewe, the second block to be stitched so far this year.

I'll be sending this out the beginning of June, and then waiting to receive the next lady's RR to stitch on.  In the meantime, I'll be stitching on a birthday exchange gift.  Here's a hint...

Keep checking back to see what the end result is...



Closets and Color, Part 2

Now to the color part of my blog....

As you know, about 3 weeks ago I had all the line work done on my tattoo.  Well, it had to be finished, all colored in, so that's what I did this past Thursday...

Back to see Hank at Elite Ink  (see his link on the right) for what we thought was going to be no more than 3 hours... turned out to be 6!

The finished product??

Whew!  Glad that's done!!  Thanks Hank!  You did a great job!

Closets and Color, Part 1

Recently I realized that my craft room was getting out of control.  So I asked hubby if he could take out the 1/4 shelves that he'd put in the closet in the craft room a few years ago, and make the shelves go all the way across.  I am so blessed to have a hubby who is so handy around the house!

The disaster before the fix...

So, I emptied the overflowing closet, and one afternoon he put in the shelves for me.  It took me a little over an hour to get my craft room organized again, but now it looks much more presentable.

With all the new shelves put in...

And what it looks like all put away...

Thank you Dear!

A Smaller Place

One thing the internet has done for us is to make our world a smaller place.  Okay, the globe hasn't really changed dramatically in size, lol, but our access to people around the world gives us the chance to be friends with people we'd never have been able to know just a few decades ago...

Two and half years ago I joined a Yahoo! crafting group based in Malaysia, called Needles N Crafts.  This group is quite active with various exchanges throughout the year - birthday, Valentine's Day, Anniversary Meet, Bookmark, Patchwork Block, just to name a few.  I've really enjoyed being part of this group, meeting so many wonderful people who speak a different language, eat strange and exotic (to me) foods, and share the same passion for crafting that I do.

The Anniversary Meet is held each year, sometime in the first three months.  The turnout for the Meet is usually pretty good, about 20 members showing up, which is about a third of the entire membership!  And for those not living in Malaysia, there is still the opportunity to participate.  There is a gift exchange (hantaran balas) of hand-crafted items, as well as the goodie bag (which members contribute items to make it truly a bag full of goodies!).  And MW comes up with an additional requirement of another handmade item to be included.  This year's extra-curricular item was a heart made with gingham fabric.

Although I can't make it to the Meets I still like to participate by contributing to the goodie bag and stitching up a gift for the hantaran balas.  And, although it takes me a couple of weeks after the Meet to receive my package (the wait is excrutiating!!  lol), I do so enjoy ripping open the box and then just savoring each item that I pull out.

Paul made a biscornu, ironically out of silk threads that I'd sent to him for his birthday, and added a couple of stash items, plus his gingham heart which can be used as a small paperweight.

A closeup of the biscornu that Paul stitched, with Rhodes butterflies, satin stitch, and Algerian eyelets...

Well, enough for today...  I've got to go put my craft room back together; hubby added some shelves in the closet for me.  Right now the craft room is a disaster area!

Thanks for dropping by, and have a great day!

The First Part of the Tattoo

Well, it's done!  All of the line work is finished, and now I have to let it heal.  Once it's healed I'll have the blues, gold, and white added to it.

So, what is it??  It's the Presidential Service Badge that I was awarded in the 1980s, when I was stationed with White House Communications Agency.  How cool is that??

Did it hurt??  Yes, and no...  It was more annoying than painful, and there's just a mild burning sensation now.  Hank was very explicit about my aftercare instructions.  And he was so patient with all those stars!!

Hello world!

So I"m new to this whole blogging thing...  I've been reading other people's blogs, and I said to myself, "I can do this", so here I am, blogging.

I enjoy doing needlework, so that's what the main theme of my blogs will be about.  Keep checking back to see what I'm working on.

Oh! and I'll be adding links to my favorite designers, as I learn how to do so.  And I'll also add blogs from several of my stitching buddies...

Tattoo Day!

Today I'm getting my first tattoo!  Yeah, yeah, I'm 54 years old and getting my first one... Why have I waited so long, you ask??  Well, it's never too late to do something you want to do, is it?

And where am I going to get this tattoo??  At Elite Ink in Myrtle Beach, SC (http://elitetattooing.com).  Hank is my artist, recommended by a friend.  It is going to take two sittings, about two and a half hours for each sitting.  The line work will be done today, and the color will be added in during the next sitting.

And what is this tattoo that I'm getting??  It will be one of my military awards... so stay tuned to see just what it will be...